![[Picture of array under test]](f_test2.jpg)
Photo from National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Part of the US Dept. of Energy.
Note to all readers: This FAQ is very much in a "draft" state. It is constantly being added to and edited. Also, I am constantly fiddling with the "look and feel" as I learn more and more about HTML. The style is as likely to change day to day as the substance! Please bear with me as I "work out the kinks." One thing I know I need is a table of contents with links to the appropriate places in the text. This is in progress and a partial table follows the Introduction and "Philosophy" statement. NEW: The FAQ has been split into separate documents by section. This should make life easier for those folks with modem Internet connections. I hope you find the pages "friendlier!" Thanks for your support!
Also currently in progress is a renewables glossary that will explain some of the terms used in the field.
My name is Michael Schwarz and I'm the one to blame for this FAQ. A great many people, publications, books, and e-mail correspondents have shaped the content of this document and I'm hoping that many of you who read it will likewise contact me and do the same.
While I am vastly indebted to all of those persons who helped me to learn something about this subject and who made comments, suggestions, (and outright attacks!) on my "pre-FAQ" posts, I must take the blame for any and all errors or inaccuracies contained herein.
Let me give you some background on the FAQ and on me (so you can judge how much credit you wish to give my answers).
In the last months of 1995 I shot my mouth off one too many times about the repetition and general lack of information available in the alt.solar.photovoltaic news group. I realized that I was constantly lamenting the absence of an FAQ document for this group. I was guilty of the same repetition I complained about!
I decided that I had best "put my money where my mouth was."
I set forth to write a FAQ for the group. I have one qualification for writing the FAQ for this group: I know (or knew) next to nothing about the subject matter. This unavoidable fact actually has been both a blessing and a curse. The curse is that it's hard to distinguish fact from hyperbole. The blessing is that I say "huh?" often enough that there's a good chance the answers I arrive at will make sense to someone as ignorant as I!
I have made every effort to establish the credentials of my sources and to back up my answers with at least basic library research. I do not claim academic authority for anything in this FAQ. I'd like to think I've done a better job than most news reporters, though!
I have some background of relevance. I'm a computer consultant with over 10 years of experience beginning with homebrewing an S-100 bus Z80 CP/M system back in the late '70s. I have a basic knowledge of electronics and home wiring. I am an expert on neither. I'm an amateur radio operator with just enough knowledge to be dangerous on the subject of electromagnetic radiation.
In learning about this subject I've been guided through the shallows of solid state physics by a Materials Science PhD, called on the carpet for shallow economic analysis by a freelance journalist in Australia, and kept honest by skeptics from right and left. I invite comments, suggestions, criticisms (short of threats!), and especially additional questions and answers!
Please send your comments to: mschwarz at multitool dot net
This FAQ aims to be politically neutral. It's goal is the popularization of factual information about the nature and practical applications of photovoltaic technology. It is not an advocacy document.
This FAQ does not endorse products, suppliers, manufacturers, or information sources. It does aim to provide listings of such resources without favoring one over another.
This FAQ does not deal in speculation. There is a lot of solid research and a lot of snake oil in the alternative energy world. While the research going on is exciting, and the fraud entertaining, this FAQ aims to supply information on techniques and systems currently available from commercial suppliers.
This FAQ is biased towards the individual homeowner. While the largest users by far of photovoltaic technology are the "remote power" locations (such as space satellites, remote telecommunications equipment, and rural properties), this FAQ aims at guiding people to the information and resources required to either make a home grid-free or to add a grid-intertie solar system to a single family dwelling. When discussing economics, a nod will be given to other applications, but this level of coverage will not be maintained throughout. I invite persons with a different focus to suggest outlines for additional FAQ sections to cover these topics.
This FAQ is a living document. While I plan to be the "gatekeeper" of this FAQ and to be the person who posts, quote, "official," unquote, editions of the FAQ document, I have no desire to exclude the participation of others. If you have a contribution you would like to make, I invite you to get in touch with me. Let's work together to make a unique and useful resource!